Thinking of going solo? Play the freelance board game first!

Plenty of business start when the founder decides to strike out on their own. If that's something you are contemplating, there's now a mostly-serious board game to help.

Are you ready to tell your boss where he or she can file their crummy employment contract?

If so, check out 'Go Freelance', a fun, satirical, board game about just how much fun you can have going freelance. The game concentrates on the comic book industry, but the lessons are universal.

Click on the small image below to see a larger, and more legible, version of the game in a new window.

The back story behind the game is worth knowing, too. The author Todd Klein is a "letterer", specialist comic book artist whose business is writing the words in speech balloons in his impeccable handwriting. Like many in the comics business, Klein is freelance. For this project he's teamed with comics artist and illustrator Shawn McManus and together the pair have created a property they own and sell direct online. The pair have printed 500 of the games and are selling them at $US20 a pop - a nice $10,000 earner with minimal outlay.

The pair both operate exemplary websites, which helps build their audience beyond comic book fans.